WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. By John F. Bailey. April 6, 2006:  Mr. and Mrs. and Ms. White Plains can feel a little safer tonight. Thanks to unrelenting investigative reporting by yours truly in the face of an onslaught of city denials, threat of lawsuit, and charges of "unsubtantiated allegations"among other hurtful invective hurled from city officials from their citadel on the second floor of City Hall, the 2nd copy of The City of White Plains 2006-2007 Proposed Budget has been located.

The Reference Desk reports as of 2:40 P.M. they have the green and white book, the size of a tombstone and just as heavy has been located by the crack White Plains Library Staff and is available for viewing with no time limit by Mr. and Mrs. and Ms. White Plains. But you can't take it out of the Library. 

A member of the City of White Plains Budget Department confirmed the book had been delivered Tuesday morning, but had been misplaced and was missing. The Budget Department member contacted WPCNR this afternoon and explained that "the budget book was delivered Tuesday morning and was inadvertently left in an Administrative Section (of the library)."

However, for two and a half days the library staff did not know they had the budget book when it was requested. They told reader Don Hughes and another interested citizen, it had not been delivered.

 WPCNR by its Pulitzer Prize winning pursuit of "The Case of the Missing Budget Book"  is pleased to bring a second copy of the Budget Book into service for interested citizens to peruse. The other Budget Book is for viewing only at the City Clerk's office.

If you wish a personal copy, it will cost you $25, according to Executive Officer Paul Wood who announced the "Pay for the Budget Book" policy -- the first time the city has ever charged for the book this week. However books are not expected to be available until the end of next week. No explanation has been given for the budget book shortage.

The mysterious misplacement of an important book by a library joins White Plains folklore taking its place with the "Case of the Missing Mayor Alfred Del Vecchio Portrait" last year which went missing for a week, only to be found under a stairwell in the city rotunda, said to be for "cleaning," and the infamous "Case of the Nicoletti Memo" that revealed the city Main Street sewer coverup, that never made its way to the Common Council.